Building a New Team

It's July 1 and in my district, that usually means the beginning of new leadership roles and newly formed leadership teams. We have a fair amount of  movement in our district each year, and this year was more than usual. My team is no exception - I am beginning this summer with a new vice-principal and an unfilled leadership position. So, the topic of building a new leadership team is at the forefront of my thinking - even as I am vacationing with my family.

There are a couple of important conversations that must be had as people join your leadership team. The first is what you need from them - the non-negotiables that you have to have in order for things to run smoothly. For me, I have to have someone who works hard, meets deadlines, is completely committed to the well-being of our children, who is not afraid to give honest feedback, and whom I can trust. The other side of that conversation is what the new team member needs from me. That conversation is equally important because you are really setting the norms for your working relationship. It is essential that we enter into new leadership relationships with a clear vision of how we need to work together in order to move the work forward. I am two years into the turnaround in my school. It would be completely unfair for me to expect my new team to be able to match my pace immediately upon entry. I must look at a 30, 60, 90 day entry plan that will structure success for my new team, much like I did for myself as I took over as principal.

If I fail to create the vision for my new leadership team, fail to set goals for them, fail to develop an action plan with them, or fail in my monitoring of the plan, my new team will fail. In my district, we have seen this time and time again - the lack of vision leads to people reacting, rather than building a purposeful and proactive plan. In many of our schools, this translates to becoming overwhelmed with discipline issues and reacting to classroom problems that could have been addressed by having a clear  vision that everyone was a part of.

I have one opportunity to get this right - the stakes are very high as I enter into year three. At the end of the day, I am responsible for the education of 800 children every day and they deserve the absolute best.

Are you adding to your leadership team or are you a new member of a leadership team? Here are some additional resources that might help you frame your success.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnhall/2013/01/29/team-building-leader/#2c0c7aff660e

http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottedinger/2012/07/16/5-ways-to-ensure-team-members-develop-into-great-leaders/#3cc7b37fc563
https://www.peterstark.com/leading-a-new-team-how-to-ensure-a-successful-transition/

The When, Why, and How of Making a Mid-Course Correction

One of the biggest criticisms of school reform is that there is too much change, too fast, and it becomes impossible to manage (read more here). I have even blogged about it in previous posts (http://turnaroundschool.blogspot.com/2015/08/detour.html, http://turnaroundschool.blogspot.com/2015/03/managing-vision.html, http://turnaroundschool.blogspot.com/2015/02/leading-people-not-just-leading-change.html). So, I know that making a mid-course correction (aka change) needs to be for the right reasons and must be managed and marketed well.

This week, I have been grappling with making two shifts in the way we do business in my school. One has to do with assessment, and the other has to do with instructional coaching. School culture is an interesting thing, because it can become established and normed with or without direct leadership. Sometimes the messages that we send as a leader can be interpreted differently and we can end up with a result that does not match our intent. It is so important for us as leaders to continually check to make sure that what we say is really what we mean and that what we mean is really being heard (I refer to this as "inspect what you expect"). Without continual discourse, questioning, and observation/feedback, educators quickly fall into the dreaded cycle of "That's The Way We've Always Done It." Even in a turnaround school, where the goals, targets, initiatives, and observation/feedback are clearly outlined and continually referred to, people's perceptions can be a powerful ingredient of TTWWADI. This is why we have to carefully decide when, why, and how we should make adjustments to our plan.

My first possible course correction of the week had to do with assessment, data collection, our building targets, and our requirements to State Ed. through our receivership status. Clearly, not something small with little impact. The short story is that our shifts in curriculum at Kindergarten and 1st Grade (we are using Core Knowledge or CKLA) no longer clearly aligns with the use of Running Records to track student growth and progress in reading. However, all of our data points and targets that are reported to the district and the state are based on Running Records. So, that's the why of a course correction - my teachers were feeling like they were over assessing our children and not getting the kind of accurate data that really aligned to and informed their practice. The when was clear, too - now. We just finished our 2nd round of Running Records and the gaps were clear, the teachers could clearly articulate the need for change and my instructional coach, Instructional Leadership Team, and I all agreed. Let's shift our practice. So then there's the how. In a change like this, there are several layers to be considered. First, the teachers. Does everyone fully understand the change that we are making and how/when will we check in on this understanding and implementation? Second, the students. We have built a strong culture of goal setting and students and parents both understand what level they are on with a letter from their Running Records (see below).

Traditional Fountas and Pinnell chart for Running Records with Lexile conversion

We had to have a clear vision of how we would shift this for students and families in order to help them understand the why and the how of our adjustment. Third, I had the data reporting piece. All of our targets that are reported to State Ed. require Running Records as an indicator, so for this school-year, I have to continue to use that as a metric, and although I can certainly explain why our percentages look like they are not moving based on the new information and new data, I need to continue to have that data point as a reference. So, we decided to create a conversion from CKLA to Running Records that will allow for our own internal tracking along the Running Records target and will allow teachers to just use the CKLA data as an assessment tool. That buys us some time with the ability to publicly change the targets and market them to students/parents/families. The next step - following up to see if what we decided is in practice - is on me and my instructional coach (which actually leads to my second big adjustment of the week!).

The second big decision was around instructional coaching. The practice of instructional coaching throughout my district has become less classroom based with observation and feedback and more focused on delivering professional development/leading team meetings/ and intense coaching/feedback cycles that are very time consuming and require heavy documentation. My challenge was to increase the amount of time that coaches are able to be in classrooms by removing their perceived barriers and adjusting my weekly check-ins with them so that I can "inspect what I expect." So, the why was clear - we are not going to see the kinds of results in student achievement that we need without continual feedback and rehearsal in instructional delivery and the coaches need to be in classrooms in order to make that happen. The when of making this change requires building capacity and clarifying the vision with multiple stakeholders. It also requires shifting some responsibilities that coaches previously held to members of my administrative team, so the when for us is over the next two weeks. The how is largely on me because so much of the visioning and checking in will be on me. My plan is to have several face to face meetings with the coaches, my vice-principals, and the teachers who will be part of phase one of the coaching plan in order to discuss the shifts and to accompany that with a written plan. I also need to have some release of expectations from Central Office so that my coaches can feel like they are able to focus primarily on classroom coaching and that their level of documentation for those coaching cycles will be at the building level. This means that for the next several weeks, this needs to be a priority for me as well and I need to purposefully build time into my schedule to "inspect what I expect."

Mid-course corrections can and should happen. A turnaround leader should be constantly aware of what is working and what is not working in his/her building. In order to keep the momentum and keep people's trust in your vision and leadership high, it is essential to think through how these mid-course corrections will be implemented and why. A strong turnaround leader has to be able to say "no" when there is a directive from above that does not align with the work of the turnaround plan and also has to be able to advocate for differentiation in leadership support - one size definitely does not fit all in school turnaround. As a turnaround leader, it is critical that we are always one step ahead and have a clear vision of where we are headed so that we can handle mid-course corrections as a natural part of moving our staff, our students, and our school from under-achieving to highly achieving.

What should I do first?

If you are a new leader, you might be feeling overwhelmed about all of the things that are on your plate. If you are a turnaround leader, you may be feeling pulled in many directions and feeling like you have many "cooks in the kitchen." I was in your position a year ago. It is exciting, but also very nerve wracking!

As a new leader, you may wonder where to begin because the task is so monumental. There are many resources that can help you - including a very helpful book called The Principal's Guide to the First 100 Days of School by Dr. Shawn Joseph. Here are some important reflections on first steps to take as a school building leader.

1. Have a clear vision and find a way to communicate it clearly. I made an "elevator speech" to help me articulate my thoughts and ideas in a clear and concise way. 
2. Establish with your team what you expect to see at the end of year one and use that to set targets for what you would expect to see and how you will get there. For example with culture and climate, if you expected to see a percentage decrease in office discipline referrals and improved student behavior in classrooms based on walk-throughs and observations, plan backwards for what you will need to implement in September to ensure that you will get what you expect. 
3. Start as you intend to go on - establish regular meetings with your leadership team and follow through on meeting. I meet with my leadership team weekly and we combine leadership development with necessary business.
4. Set goals for your first 90 days and publish them to your leadership team and teaching staff. We have to hold ourselves accountable and we should expect others to hold us accountable as well. 
5. Review your data and then meet with children and families to put faces to the numbers. Data is only ever one piece of the puzzle - don't forget to humanize the numbers. 
6. Inspect what you expect - if you expect all adults to greet children at the door, you will need to walk the building daily and provide feedback when things are not what you expect. 
7. Celebrate the little things. There will be challenges, but there will also be things to celebrate. No matter how small, remember to appreciate your team and the work that they are doing.
8. Ask for help. Find a colleague that you trust to ask questions that you have. We established a new principal group text using an app called Group Me. It allowed us to ask and answer questions within the group and it also built relationships between our group.

If you are working with several consultants, you will find it important to organize what you need and expect from your consultants or coaches. It seems like this may be articulated for you, but I found that it was necessary for me to identify what each of my consultants and coaches brought to the table in terms of strengths and align them with the work that we needed to accomplish. When I did that, I stopped feeling like I was being pulled in so many directions by so many outside support systems. When I was able to actually get my consultants to start working together on common goals - we really were able to make some significant gains. 

If you are new to the principalship, congratulations! Being a school leader is the best job in the world, but it certainly comes with a mountain of responsibility and pressure. A colleague of mine from years ago always reminded me that administration is about service. I try to remember that when I start to feel overwhelmed. My role is to serve the teachers, students, and families that are in my school. My vision is for them - not for me. Being a principal is inspirational, stressful, challenging, and fun. Welcome to this amazing journey. 

Expectations, Part 2

In my previous blog post, I wrote about the power that expectations have on students and student achievement. This post should, perhaps, come with a warning label because it focuses on the expectations that we, as leaders, have on our teachers and what that means for the future of education. If you are not 100% committed to building successful teams, implementing the instructional practices necessary to ensure student achievement, and doing whatever it takes to turn your school around, then you should move from this post to something that is a little more warm and fuzzy.

I was discussing the implementation of interim assessments with some colleagues and one principal asked me how I got my teachers to go along with the data analysis and development of re-teaching plans based on the data. I was perplexed by the question and I explained that my teachers were excited about the work because it provided them with clear data about student progress and mastery of standards. I had told my team (have I told you lately how amazing they are?) that we were using interim assessments and that it was part of the work we were doing and they were on board. My colleagues responded by saying that they could not do that. I was perplexed - shocked, even. Even though I understand that not every building is in turnaround and has the same level of panic regarding moving students toward achievement, I still believe that leaders set the expectations for great teachers to do great things with students.

So, who sets the expectations? Do we, as leaders, set the expectations for our teachers and give them the appropriate supports and training to rise to the occasion? Or do we let our teachers set the expectations based on what they are comfortable bringing to the table? If we continue thinking about the power of teachers in setting high expectations for student achievement and we take that to the next level, it falls to leaders to set high expectations for teachers and follow through with making sure that teachers rise to those expectations. To quote Linda Cliatt-Wayman, turnaround leader and passionate change agent, "If you're going to lead, lead." Leaders cannot make excuses about having high expectations. Leaders must make hard choices, give difficult feedback, and build enough trust with their teams that they can believe in their own power to change. We must be the voices of belief, assurance, and vision - we cannot allow for doubt, complacency, or habit to prevent us from insisting on the work that must be implemented for the success of our students.

What kind of leader are you? Are you that cage-busting leader who doesn't say no to what needs to be done and empowers the same thing from your teachers? Or are you playing it safe - letting the fears of those you're leading stop you from making the necessary changes that will ensure student success? Being a turnaround leader means that you do not have the luxury of time in making the necessary changes that will ensure student achievement. It means that you must be brave - each and every day. Turnaround leader Linda Cliatt-Wayman is inspirational as she talks about the power of a leader to impact change. In her words, "If you're going to lead, lead." What are you going to do?

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Balance

It seems that having balance would be an oxymoron for a turnaround leader - the amount of work that needs to be done and the pressure to meet goals and targets can be all consuming. Without balance between the work and "real life," there is a very real concern that both ends will begin to unravel. Real life has a way of forcing balance - it might be an illness, a relationship, a family situation, a friend in need, or the passing of someone important to you that brings you back to seeing that the work must be balanced with a level of focus on "real life" that matches the focus on the work.

What are the roles that you play in your life? I am a wife, a mother to two teenage boys, a sister, a daughter, a turnaround principal, a friend, a learner, a boss, an employee, a musician, a creative thinker, and a manager. Balancing these roles is challenging because each of them requires so much energy - emotional, creative, and physical. When I am too focused on the role of being a turnaround leader, the other parts of my life - like wife or mother - start to unravel and I am forced to adjust my time. Right now, both of my teenage sons are struggling in school and not maintaining their grades. I have been sick for three weeks and my relationship with my husband has been strained. My house is a mess and I have not taken any time for myself in weeks or months. We are coming off of a site review at school and it has been physically and emotionally draining for me as a leader and for my staff, who is working incredibly hard as well.

So, if the question here is "do we need to be superheros in order to turn our schools around?" The answer is no, but there are some things that we need to do in order to find balance. Here are some things that I find important to keeping things in check and moving the work forward:

• Use lists to keep track of deadlines and things that must be done - include things that must be delegated, can be done quickly, or just pop in to your head in order to capture the big picture. Enjoy the feeling of accomplishment that you get when you cross things off your list!
• Delegate. When delegating to team members or teacher leaders, be clear in your expectations and deadlines for tasks so that what has been delegated doesn't become an additional headache when the deadline is not met. Make the deadline for completion well ahead of the deadline for submission so that there is time for revision.
• Ask for help. Know who on your team can help with things that need to be done but don't necessarily require your personal involvement. Things like flyers, notices, robo-calls, letters can often be generated by someone else on your team.
• Have clear expectations. This may seem like it is unnecessary, but no one can read your mind and being clear at the onset will save you headache in the long run. The other part of clear expectations is to give actionable feedback so when your expectations are not being met, they can be by providing clear, specific, and actionable feedback. This applies to tasks, instruction, classroom management, or anything related to successfully turning around a school. If you are not clear as a leader, no one around you will know how to move forward. 
• Set goals and targets. Where do you expect to be in 3 years? After year 1? After the first 90 days? Share your goals with your staff and get their input and involvement. The goals and targets will feel ambitious, but the more everyone is on board and can pace their own progress against the goals and targets, the more likely it will be that you will get there. When I began as a turnaround principal, I set goals and targets for the first 90 days. The first work that we did as an SLT was to articulate what we expected to see after the first 3 months, half-way through the first year, and by the end of year one of our turnaround plan. This was powerful work, and now that we are planning for year two, we are able to build on the initial goals and can better plan for how we will continue to grow in year two.
• Take time to support those around you. If you are feeling stressed and overworked, your team is likely feeling stressed and overworked. Find time to celebrate the people around you and the work that they are doing. 
• Walk away. There is always work to be done. Know when you can leave it and when you need to take it home with you. It will be there tomorrow, so prioritize what must be done in the time that you have to do it.
• Make time for friends and family. However it looks in your world, make time to be with the people you love. I have made Sunday the day that I work with my kids on their homework and try to cook ahead some meals for the week. Weeknights are fast paced and often feel like more of a check in than real quality time, but Sundays we are able to spend the time it takes to re-connect. This works for me, but you need to know what will work for you.
• Take care of yourself. I am awful at this, but I recognize the importance of it. This is an area I definitely need to improve in.
• Thank people. Thank your family for their support. Recognize your team for all of the hard work that they are doing. Write notes, send emails, give shout-outs at meetings, include appreciations on every agenda, thank parents for supporting their children, thank your students for the hard work that they are doing - create a culture of positivity and optimism by purposefully recognizing the efforts of individuals in moving the team forward. 
• Give yourself a break. You are not a superhero. Know when you need to put it in low gear. (Yeah, I need to work on this, too.)

For more resources on finding balance and helpful strategies, check out this resource on the Wheel of Life ( http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_93.htm ). And no matter what, keep calm and #turnaround.

 

The Pressure to Perform

As a turnaround leader, you are always aware of the pressure to hit the targets - to achieve the goals of the turnaround plan. It can color the way that you look at the progress that you are seeing. When you are looking at data - even when it shows growth - you are painfully aware that it is not enough growth. The pressure to perform can impact the morale of the staff and lead to anxiety in both the adults and the students within the school. Teachers can worry that they won't be able to keep their jobs if they don't demonstrate enough growth in their data. Students can feel like they are "less" than students who are moving faster. Parents can start to feel like they wish it could go back to when they were blissfully ignorant of how the school was performing because it didn't seem like there was anything wrong with the "old ways."

Our targets require that we move from 2% proficiency on state assessments (our baseline) to 85% proficiency within three years. That seems like a pretty difficult mountain to climb. We broke the targets into grade level proficiency targets so that we could see how we would get there, one step at a time. Even so, 85% proficiency means that all students are involved. Twenty percent of our population receives ESL services and 15% of our students receive support through special education. Eighty-five percent proficiency includes these students. When we say that we believe in meeting the needs of every child, every day, we mean that all of our students need to be performing at a level that meets or exceeds grade level expectations. That is a very real pressure to perform.

Celebrating each step along the way is an important aspect of continued improvement. We may not have hit our goal, but when we see that our students are improving in their reading comprehension, or have used text-based evidence in their writing, or can explain how 5/8 is larger than 1/2 on a number line, then we need to celebrate.

We need to celebrate in our own teaching and in our own leadership as well. Each day there is an opportunity for us to see something that we did that made a difference. Maybe the conversation you had with a colleague helped a light bulb go off and they have renewed commitment to the work. Perhaps you only had to speak to your most challenging child once during your whole group instruction. It could be that you finally got some supports for a parent who is in severe need. Whatever the celebration, take the time to acknowledge it and know that the work that you are doing matters. Don't give up. Keep encouraging those around you to stay the course. No matter what - do NOT lower your standards. Make sure that because of your leadership, your teaching, your support that your students will achieve  - and it will all have been worth it.

Leading People - Not Just Leading Change

While leading change and leading transition, we can lose sight of the fact that we are leading people. All of the initiatives, all of the targets and goals, all of the pressure to achieve in a turnaround school can cause a leader to lose sight of what people need in terms of support.

In the book, Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute, we are challenged to look at the ways that we, as leaders, see ourselves as in charge or more right than those we are leading. Sometimes when we are "in the box" we forget that leadership is more about serving others. Personally, I am about the work. Having an intense work ethic does not preclude caring about the people involved in the work. However, when you are "in the box" you can tell yourself that you are right in the way you communicate about the work that needs to be done. Forgetting to think about what the people involved in the work need in order to feel supported and cared about is a huge mis-step in managing transition and change in a turnaround school.

Reflecting on leadership as service to others helps us to be mindful of what the people involved in change need - even when it does not align with our own personality or personal needs. Getting "out of the box" and seeing people as people, rather than employees, is necessary as people manage the transitions and changes involved in turning around a school.

Knowing and understanding that the work of supporting change means supporting the people through the change is a shift in thinking for a turnaround leader. We sign up for leading a turnaround school because we have the vision to see the end result. We know and understand that shifting our practice, using data, and a deep commitment to the vision can be the vehicle through which we move a school from failing to achieving. But that only builds a foundation. We cannot hire and fire our way to achievement. We must commit to developing, caring for, and supporting the people who are in the midst of the change and transition in order to move the work forward. Supporting the work means supporting the people who are in the work - even when what they need is different than what you may need as a leader. Knowing what your people need is essential for a turnaround leader.

Leading the Tough Times in a Turnaround

Leading a turnaround school is tough. Leading a turnaround school through tough times is even tougher. What do you do as a leader when the staff begins to lose their focus and their momentum? How can you help to keep the level of commitment high? How do you encourage staff when they are feeling the weight of the work load? Shifting the trajectory of a school can feel all-consuming. There is no "down time" and no room for "good enough." The weight of the work can start to make people question their commitments and believe that there is an easier path somewhere with an easier work load and/or easier children.

Leadership is the start of moving a turnaround school. Chicago Public Schools developed a rubric of competencies for turnaround leaders that can assist in determining the "fit" for a school leader in the work that drives a turnaround school. http://www.publicimpact.com/publications/Turnaround_Leader_Competencies.pdf  According to the report, there are three key actions for successful turnaround leaders:

• Identify and focus on a few early wins with big payoffs, and use that early success to gain momentum 
• Break organization norms or rules to deploy new tactics needed for early wins 
• Act quickly in a fast cycle of trying new tactics, measuring results, discarding failed tactics and doing more of what works  

Mary Anne Radmacher said, "Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day that says, "I'll try again tomorrow." For a turnaround leader, this sums up the continuous push forward toward the goal of improved student achievement. For teachers leading their own classrooms, it is seeing the progress and celebrating each student as they move toward their goals, while continuing to reflect on improving practice, identifying growth areas, and using data to drive instruction. There is so little room for ego or hurt feelings in this work. There are tiny victories in each day, but there are also miles to go before we sleep. Turnaround leaders must be skillful at motivating and moving their staff, while always seeing the next step or the next goal. Teachers must be committed to continuous improvement, self-reflection, and receiving feedback, while inspiring and motivating students to continue to work harder than they may be used to. So, when the going gets tough, in a turnaround school, the tough must be even tougher.

 

 

 

 So, it comes down to commitment. A turnaround leader, or a turnaround teacher, must believe that the work and the children are worth the sacrifice. There will be tough days - days when you feel like you are losing the battle and that the sacrifice is too great. A turnaround leader must be committed to the belief that the right work will make a difference and that tomorrow will be a better day. Reflect, regroup, and remain committed to the belief that the students we serve deserve a bright future and we are the ones who will make it happen.